Challenging Minds. Changing Lives.

Archives for March 2017

On March 22 The Canadian Partnership for Women’s and Children’s Health released a summary of the 2017 Budget.

This post includes key highlights presented by CanWaCH for their Partners and the International Development Sector.

Budget 2017

Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s second annual budget focuses on the ‘modernization’ of Canada’s international development assistance delivery and an emphasis on women’s empowerment, including women’s economic empowerment and addressing violence against women.

Canada’s first ever Gender Statement was also an important feature in the budget withgender-based analysis (1)becoming an integral part of government decision-making.

No additional funding for Official Development Assistance (ODA) or Canada’s International Assistance Envelope (IAE) was referenced.

The forthcoming release of the International Assistance Review (IAR) was also referenced in the budget and will give a clearer indication of the direction of Canada on development assistance.

The Budget references previously funded announcements. This includes:

$650 million towards sexual and reproductive health and rights;

Humanitarian support of $1.6 billion over three years (launched in 2016-17 and committed in February 2016) for the promotion of peace through security, stabilization, humanitarian and development assistance to respond to the ongoing crisis in Iraq and Syria. The Government also announced it will resettle approximately 1,200 highly vulnerable refugees, including Yazidi women and girls and other survivors of Daesh to Canada.

The Development Finance Institution (DFI), initially announced in 2015 is capitalized at $300 million. The DFI will support sustainable development and poverty reduction in developing countries by promoting economic growth, creating jobs, advancing women’s economic empowerment and reducing poverty in areas where alternative financing is scarce.

The budget committed to restoring Canada as a leader in international peace operations with the United Nations, including pledging up to 600 well-trained Canadian military personnel for possible deployment as part of a broader whole-of-government approach that includes “political, security, development and humanitarian response to conflict situations.”

Minister Morneau remarked to the House of Commons, “In international assistance [Canada] remains committed to helping the world’s poorest and most vulnerable. And we will continue to modernize our efforts so we can deliver better results, improve transparency, and foster innovation around the world.”

1 Gender-based analysis (GBA) identifies the ways in which public policies affect women and men differently. It does so through a systematic use of data to better tailor the design and delivery of government programs. Recently, this tool has evolved into GBA+ to include the intersecting identity factors that must be considered in public policy along with and in relation to gender (e.g. ethnicity, age, income, sexual orientation).

On March 7, the Canadian Red Cross in partnership with Dalhousie University’s Global Health Office hosted a panel discussion in Halifax on the challenges and successes in strengthening the lives of women and children in conflict and fragile settings.

The Red Cross has a blog post that summarizes the highlights of that discussion.

We are planning future collaborative events with the Red Cross to be hosted here in Halifax.

Written by Matt Jalink, MSc Candidate in Community Health and Epidemiology, Dalhousie University.

Burden of Mental Health in Canada

Often when we discuss illness and health, we focus solely on physical wellbeing, new infectious disease outbreaks like Ebola, the management and treatment of chronic diseases or injury. Considerably less attention is paid to the invisible, hidden illnesses that are the leading cause of disability in Canada1, 2,3, a burden that is 1.5 times higher than all cancers, and 7 times greater than all infectious disease combined in Ontario4. We are talking about mental illnesses.

The burden of mental health in Canada is considerable. Childhood and adolescence is a time of increased risk for developing mental illness as almost 70% of mental health problems begin at this time. By the time Canadians reach 40 years of age, one in every 2 have or have had a mental illness5. Discrepancies between income groups are evident as Canadians in the lowest income bracket are 3 to 4 times more likely than those in the highest income group to report poor to fair mental health status6. The burden of mental illness extends from the individual to a societal level. Approximately 20% of working population is currently suffering from mental health and as a result 500,000 Canadians will miss work any given week due to mental health issues or illness7, 8.

The burden mental illness places on the individual and society has economic consequences. In Canada, mental illness costs a summed estimated $ 51 billion per year in healthcare costs, lost productivity, and reductions in quality of life5, 9. However, up to 25% of disability costs associated with mental health problems could be avoided by taking action.

Social barriers, primarily social stigma, hinder individuals and companies from taking action. Only 1/3 of individuals facing mental health challenges choose to access help because of the fear of being stigmatized10. An example comes from Ontario where 39% of workers would not tell their managers if they were experiencing a mental breakdown11. Stigmatism extends beyond the individual suffering from mental health to colleagues and coworkers who, in a study on Ontario workers, 64% would be concerned about how work would be altered if a colleague had mental illness11. Stigmatism towards mental health has been decreasing12, but effective interventions and programs are needed to alleviate both the stigma and burden imposed by mental health especially in the workplace where 82% of senior executives have stated that their company promotes a mentally healthy work environment, while only 30% of employees believe this to be true.

Not Myself Today –Canadian Intervention for workhouse

One such program is Not Myself Today, an evidence-informed, practical solution to help employers transform mental health at work. Working in conjunction with Partners for Mental Health, Not Myself Today is focused on helping companies build greater awareness, reduce stigma, and foster safe and supportive work environments.

An easy 4-step process allows businesses to partake in the Not Myself Today program.

The program is based on the insight that everyone has days that we don’t feel like ourselves, and most of us have learned or been told to suppress these feelings and respond to questions like, “How are you doing today?” with “Good” or “Fine” when we could be feeling a wide range of emotions. Not Myself Today leverages these insights to familiarize people to the concept of mental health and build empathy and understanding towards those living with mental illness.

Participating companies and organizations receive a toolkit (physical and digital) containing hands-on activities, tools and resources, as well as ongoing support to engage and educate their workforce about mental health throughout the year.

All funds generated by Not Myself Today directly support the work of Partners for Mental Health (PMH) and the development, execution, evaluation of the initiative. PMH is a national charitable organization accredited by Imagine Canada that is catalyzing a social movement to change the way people think about, act towards, and support mental health and those living with mental illness.

Why Companies Should Join

Registering with Not Myself Today benefits both those battling mental illness and companies as whole. Poor mental health status and mental illness is costly for individuals, employers and the economy. Taking concrete actions to promote and protect employee mental health has benefits. The average positive return on investment is 2.3 for employers investing in a mentally healthy workplace13. To date, more than 320 companies and organizations both small and large from a wide range of sectors have brought Not Myself Today to their workplace with great success.